


Neighbours

by barnesdeservedbetter (steveharringtonofficial)



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-20
Updated: 2017-12-13
Packaged: 2019-02-14 08:49:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 16,960
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13004136
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/steveharringtonofficial/pseuds/barnesdeservedbetter
Summary: You’ve moved into a new apartment in Brooklyn. Your neighbour starts getting friendly, and you wonder where it could lead





	1. Chapter 1

You found yourself breathless as you placed the last box on your new apartment floor. You settled on the sofa that was already in the middle of the living room. Slumped over and almost half asleep, you suddenly noticed you left the front door wide open.

“First day in your new apartment and you’re already making it easy for people to break in,” you spoke to yourself as you begrudgingly got up off the sofa to close the mahogany brown door. “Not like I have much of worth anyway.”

You laughed slightly, pushing the door, but something stopped it from closing. A hand on the door. You opened it slightly to reveal a tall man, with tousled brown hair and beautiful blue eyes. They caught you off guard. The man cleared his throat, looking down at your smaller figure.

“Sorry, I-“ you started, trying to think of an excuse for staring too long. “I wasn’t expecting anybody on my first day.” You smiled, catching his eyes which you could visibly see light up.

“Apologies.” The man said. His voice was low, and raspy, but not unwelcoming. “I’m your neighbour, just wanted to make sure you weren’t some mass murderer or whatever.” He laughed, revealing a heart-warming smile.

“Well, you’ll have to give me a few days to settle in before I plot.” You joked, opening the door wider so that you weren’t just glancing through a small slit.

“Ha ha, I might have to report that.” He leaned against the doorframe and crossed his arms, revealing some huge muscles you were not surprised he inhabited.

“I’ll put you first on my list then,” you paused. “I’m sorry, I don’t think I caught your name?” You looked into his eyes once more, careful not to get entranced.

“James Barnes, my friends call me Bucky, though. In fact, everyone calls me Bucky. I don’t even know why I told you my real name.” He visibly cringed, scrunching up his nose before laughing, a sound that echoed throughout your empty apartment.

“Bucky, huh? [Y/F/N]. It’s nice to meet you.” You held out your hand for him to shake. His hand was warm, strong. It almost shocked you when he gripped your hand so tight.

“Nice to meet you too, [Y/N]. I’ll be over in 2B if you need anything. A strong man to help you unpack, I don’t know.” He smiled, his eyes shining as he did so.

You laughed, looking him up and down. “I’m sure you’re fully capable of doing so, but I think I can manage on my own.”

“Alright then, doll. I’ll see you later.” He waved slightly as he walked off back into his own apartment.

You stood at the door for a second.  _Doll?_ Your heart fluttered at the thought.  _I’m sure it’s just a thing he calls everyone._ You tried to convince yourself, though you had a hard time believing.

* * *

You began unpacking your boxes. It didn’t take long, you didn’t take many things with you from your old home back in the country. You thought it was best to not over-encumber yourself. You sighed however, looking at how empty the apartment was. Almost all the walls were an awful off-white colour, the laminate looking bland. It didn’t look like it was  _yours_. You needed to add some personality.

You were locking your door as Bucky came out of his apartment. You turned, flashing a quick smile.

“Hey, neighbour.” He said, leaning against his doorframe. You gathered that was a thing he did a lot.

“Hey… Are you stalking me? I’m finding it hard to believe it’s just coincidence we left at the same time.” You giggled, leaving back against your door, shoving your key into your purse.

“Well, that’s an idea…” He started, laughing afterwards. “No, I promise. I was about to go out and get milk because, silly me, I forgot I ran out yesterday.”

“The old milk excuse. Gotcha.” You winked as you went to make your way down the stairs.

“Hey! It’s not an excuse.” Bucky followed you down the stairs, his heavy footsteps echoing.

“Sure it isn’t.” You said sarcastically.

“It’s not!” He ran down a few steps to catch up to you. “Where are you going anyway?”

“An art store. Though, I don’t know any near here.” You stopped as you reached the bottom of the stairwell. “Do you?”

“Yes, I do. There’s one a few blocks down, I can walk you to it.” He grinned, looking down at you.

You rolled your eyes. “Fine. But that’s only because I don’t know where it is.” You walked out the building, Bucky following quickly behind.

It didn’t take long to get there. You spent most of the journey answering Bucky’s questions about you, where you were from, what your favourite colour was and so on. He was very eager to get to know you, but you didn’t think much of it for the time being.

“Wait, you’re coming in with me? I don’t need a babysitter you know,” You laughed as you held the door open.

“Yeah, why not? I love art, my friend, Steve, used to study it.”

“Ah,” you said wandering around the shop, looking for the paint section.

“And, I figured I should also take you to the convenience store. I need milk, and you most definitely need some food.” He followed you around, like a puppy. Only taller, and a lot scruffier.

“You would be right to assume that,” you giggled.

Finally, you reached the paint section. You traced your fingers over the shelves, trying to decide which colours to pick.

“Uh, I think you might need more than little 25 millilitre pots to paint your apartment.” He remarked.

“I’m not going to paint the whole wall, silly. I like art, I’m going to draw patterns on them.” You picked up a turquoise green, studying it carefully.

“Oh? That’s different. Wish I was that smart.” He studied you while you were looking at the paints, though you didn’t notice.

“It’s what I did at home. I didn’t really feel the vibe of solid colours. Patterns are more pretty.” You settled on the turquoise, along with a vibrant red and a few other colours.

“It’s unique. I like it.”

You paid for the paint, then walked into the cool night air. You shivered slightly.

“Should’ve worn a jacket.” You mumbled to yourself, crossing your arms.

“Here,” Bucky started taking off his jacket.

“No, no. You don’t have to do that.” You smiled, silently thanking him for the gesture.

“Who said you had a say? I’m wearing three layers. You’re wearing one.” He handed you his jacket and you, reluctantly, took it.

“I guess you have a point. Thanks.” You said, slipping the jacket on. It was far too big, which made Bucky chuckled at the sight. But it was cosy, the warmth enveloping you. You sighed at the feeling.

“No problem, doll.” Bucky walked a few paces ahead, not noticing the blush rising to your face. “Store’s up this way, you coming?”

You nodded ‘yes’ as you walked back up to him.

Maybe he wasn’t so bad after all.


	2. Chapter 2

You and Bucky walked home, bags in hand. He offered to carry most of yours because “it’s the gentlemanly thing to do, [Y/N].” You just laughed at him, before letting him take the heavier bags. Bucky carried them with ease, not thinking twice about the weight of them.

“There. Safely brought back to your humble abode.” He said as you put the bags you were carrying on the floor to grab your key.

“I wouldn’t even call it humble yet,” you giggled as you unlocked the door, pushing it open to reveal a hallway that led to a mostly empty living room.

“Look at that. Looks much like mine, surprisingly. Just, emptier.” He walked in, looking around, although there wasn’t much to look at. “Where would you like these?”

“Over here, on the countertop.” You motioned toward the kitchen area. He set the bags down where you asked and walked over to where you were standing.

“This is different, I don’t have one of these.” Bucky peered out the huge glass window, that covered the wall from ceiling to floor. It revealed a lovely view of the landscape of Brooklyn.

“I thought it was nice. It’s the reason why I bought this apartment, the one good thing about it.” You watched as the city lights shone brightly.

“It’s beautiful.” He said. You knew he was talking about the view, but he was looking down at you, steel blue eyes burning through you.

“You’ll have to thank the people that built the city for that, not me.” You smiled as you went to unpack your groceries.

After the necessary was done, you found yourself beside Bucky again, who was still mesmerised by the view. “You wanna swap apartments?” You joked. “You seem to like mine better than yours.”

He chuckled along with you. “I forgot how beautiful this city was.” There was sadness in his eyes, but you didn’t bring it up. Not after only knowing him for half a day.

Just then, your stomach grumbled. You realised you hadn’t eaten since breakfast this morning, and it was almost 8 o’clock. You cringed at the sound, covering your torso with your arms as if it made it any better.

“Hungry?” He switched his gaze from the city to you.

“You could say that.”

“Well, I was going to order pizza for myself. Though I suppose I could spare a little for you.”

“That’s kind, Bucky. But I have food here.” You motioned toward the fridge where you had just put most of your delicacies.

“And there I was, hoping to spend a little more time with you.” He laughed slightly, shifting his weight onto his left foot, leaning.

“I’m going to be living here for who knows how long. You’ll have all the time in the world to see me if you really were so desperate too.” You giggled, placing a hand on his right shoulder. He flinched slightly at the gesture but eased into it quickly.

“Pizza is a really great bonding food, though,” he smiled a toothy grin.

“If I say yes will you shut up?”

“Yes. Although you’ll have to deal with me for another hour or so.”

You rolled your eyes. “Fine. Pizza it is.”

“We should probably cross the hall to my place. I have some great movies over there. I’ve been catching up recently after missing so many over the-“ he stopped suddenly as if he weren’t supposed to say anything.

“Over the what?” You laughed. “You’re like 25, you can’t have missed much.”

“29, technically. And I have missed loads, thank you.”

“Suit yourself then, off to your place we go.” And off you went.

Bucky’s apartment was very similar to yours, like he said. Though it was more homely and welcoming. He had little notebooks lying all around the place and history books filling his shelves. You noticed it was only recent history, if you class recent as the last 100 years. You didn’t think much of it.

“Don’t mind the mess,” he said, sweeping his hand through his luscious locks.

“It’s not messy, just… lived in.” Though it wasn’t messy at all, except for a blanket sprawled out over his sofa and like one empty glass on the coffee table.

“So, I’m gonna call the pizza place.”

“I gathered, that is how you order pizza. Unless it changed to telepathy while I was sleeping last night.” You joked. “Did it?”

“No, of course not. I was about to ask you what you wanted. Please, for the love of God, no pineapple, though. I might have to kick you out.” He cringed.

“I’ll agree with you there.” You laughed, and told him your favourite kind of pizza and he ordered it, along with his, a completely meat covered pizza, or a “meat lover’s” as he called it. Extra large. That man could eat a lot.

You spent the half hour the pizza took to arrive swithering over what movie you two should watch. Until he came across a collection he hadn’t yet seen.

“You’ve never seen Harry Potter?” You almost shouted, quietly enraged that he had never seen this classic. “Right, we’re watching that.”

“There’s eight movies, [Y/N].”

“Well, seven more nights you have an excuse to see me,” you laughed as you took the first disk out and placed it in the DVD player he had.

The doorbell rang, signalling the delivery guy had found their way to Bucky’s apartment.

“Hey, I’ll pay,” you said, reaching for your purse.

“No, you won’t.” He almost commanded, already having grabbed the amount of money he needed, plus tip.

You huffed in defeat as he answered the door.

“Two smokin’ hot pizzas, coming your way,” he grinned, holding both pizzas in one hand. His metal one. How come you didn’t notice that before?

You both watched the movie in silence, other than the sounds of hungrily devouring your pizzas, and Bucky’s gasps at tense or exciting parts in the movie.

You found yourself slowly sliding toward Bucky, like a magnet, until you were leaning against his shoulder, slowly drifting to sleep. You woke when Bucky started slowly moving off of the sofa. You noticed the movie had ended. You sighed, as you rubbed your eyes awake.

“Shit, sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you.” He stopped where he was and turned to you with an apologetic smile.

“Oh, don’t worry. It’s probably best I sleep in my own apartment anyway.” You laughed gently, still sleepy from your little nap.

“If it’s any consolation, the movie was good. I’d like to see the rest.” He placed the pizza boxes in the trash, then stopped to get himself a drink of water. He brought another glass over to you.

“Thanks.” You said, taking the glass carefully from his grip. “I’d like to see them, too. Maybe awake next time?” You giggled, before taking a sip of water.

“Guess I’ll just have to think of ways to keep you awake,” he winked at you, then walked off to place his now empty glass in the sink.

“Hm? Okay.” You said quietly, finding yourself drifting again.

“Thought you wanted to sleep in your own apartment, as much as I’d like you to stay.” He held out his hand for you to grab as you got up from the sofa. You smiled softly at him.

“How kind.” You said absentmindedly. You had been up since dawn that morning, no wonder you were so tired.

He walked you across the hall to your door. Making sure you were okay every step of the way.

“Thanks, for tonight.” You smiled once more. “Didn’t think I’d find a friend this quickly.”

“Now I’m your friend?” He grinned.

“Yes, I suppose so.” You unlocked your door. “Goodnight, Bucky.” You turned to say to him.

“Goodnight, doll. See you tomorrow.”

“With your luck, probably.”

You closed the door, still thinking of his smile.  _No, [Y/N], he’s your neighbour. Do not get involved with him._  With that thought, you slumped into bed, sleeping peacefully until morning broke.


	3. Chapter 3

You awoke at around 9:30, sun peeking in through the blinds, begging to fill the room. You stretched, feeling stiff after sleeping so long. You showered, brushed your teeth, got dressed, and sat down to eat breakfast. Thank God for Bucky taking you to the store, you would’ve forgotten otherwise.

Checking your phone, you sat quietly, the rays of sun heating the room around you. You smiled at the warmth, shoving more cereal in your mouth.

You decided to get a move on when you were finished eating. The place was for too bland for your liking, so you got out your paints from yesterday and found some brushes that you took from home. Painting little swirls and patterns on your walls in all colours of the rainbow, blasting your favourite music. You sang along, taking little breaks to dance crazily or rock out. You barely noticed the knock on your door.

Pausing the music, you set your brush down and went to answer.

“Bucky.” You smiled, opening the door a little wider.

“Hey,” his blue eyes were more piercing than yesterday, you found yourself getting lost in then once again.

“What are you doing here so early?”

“It’s midday,” he furrowed his brow, confused look spreading over his face.

“It is?” You gasped in shock while Bucky stepped through your door. You shut it behind him.

“Yes,” he lifted his arm to check his watch. “12:32 to be exact,” Bucky smiled.

“Oh, I guess I got caught up-“

“Painting? It’s beautiful.” His eyes lit up, his flesh hand tracing over the already dried paint.

“You think? It’s not even finished yet.” You giggled, a blush rising to your cheeks.

He nodded as he looked back at you. “It’s amazing, doll.”

There it was again,  _doll._  You felt butterflies in your stomach.

Bucky moved to sit on your sofa, turning his body to look at you, arm strung around the back.

“You want anything? Water? Juice?” you asked, opening the refrigerator.

“No, I’m alright, thanks.”

Grabbing some orange juice, you realised you hand paint all over your hands. You laughed at the sight.

“What are you laughing at?” Bucky questioned.

“Oh, nothing. I just have paint all up my hands.” You wiggled your fingers in the air to show him.

He grinned. “It’s on your face, too.”

“What?” You asked, eyes wide in embarrassment.

Bucky got up from his place on the sofa, and walked coolly toward you, grabbing a cloth from the countertop and wetting it under the tap.

“Yeah, it’s around your chin, your nose, a little bit on your forehead.” With each area he named, he swiped the cloth across it, cleaning the paint off of you with a mischievous grin on his face.

You noticed how close he was and studied him further. The bicep of the arm he was using bulging out at the hem of his sleeve, outline of his chest visible through his sheer shirt. You also noticed how hot your face was getting, you were sure to be as red as a tomato. You looked down, not wanting to make eye contact.

“Thanks,” you whispered, too ashamed to say much else.

He placed the cloth back on the countertop, then turned so he as leaning on the side of the counter. “If it means anything, paint looks good on you.” Bucky watched you carefully as you rinsed your hands in the sink, scrubbing the paint off.

You giggled, “I’m not sure paint looks good on anyone, but thanks.” Drying your hands, you checked to make sure you didn’t get paint anywhere else.

He looked you up and down, “I think you’re good, no more paint.”

You decided to go put the lids back on the paint pots before they dried out. Bucky stayed where he was.

“So, I was thinking,” you turned to face him, intrigued by what he was going to say next. “I have to go to work, I want you to come with.”

“To work?” You laughed. “I’m sure that’s really  _fun._ ”

“Hey! I’ll have you know I work at a really fun place. Plus, you don’t have a job yet, do you?” He inquired, checking his watch for the time.

“I was looking,” you trailed off. No one had got back to you yet about the jobs you had applied for.

“Well, there’s openings where I work. Not exactly in my division, unless you’re good at doing what I do. But I could send in a good word.” He smiled, his eyes crinkling. You were starting to really like it when he smiled.

“Fine, I’ll come.” You picked up a jacket and your purse before walking to the door.

It took 45 minutes to get there by train. Bucky didn’t tell you where you were going, except that it was in Manhattan. “Why do you work so far away?” You asked, he just said “you’ll see,” before sitting back on the seat.

You started looking up on your phone what was in Manhattan, popular places to go. You might as well spend the day you had there well.

“You know the Avengers Tower is in Manhattan, right? I’ve always wanted to see it in person.”

Bucky smiled at you. “I know,” he said plainly. “You’ll see it. It’s huge, can’t miss it.”

“Also why do you start work at 3pm? Like, most people start really early in the morning, or do night shifts or-“ Bucky placed his hand on yours.

“You’ll see,” he said once more, taking his hand away. You began to miss the warmth that it offered.

You walked the streets of Manhattan, mesmerised by everything. It was that much different from Brooklyn, but you had never been here before. It was really busy, however. You almost lost Bucky two or three times until he grabbed your hand. The sensation sent a shiver down your spine, you never wanted to let go. You held on tightly as you weaved through the crowd. You didn’t know why it was so busy in the middle of the afternoon.  _Maybe that’s just what it’s like here,_ you thought.

You were so caught up in your thoughts that you didn’t realise Bucky was leading you straight to the Avengers Tower. The tall glass building reflected sunlight straight into your eyes. You held your other hand up to your eyes, trying to shade them from the sun.

“That’s the Avengers Tower, Bucky. I thought you had to go to work?” He didn’t reply to you, just held onto your hand firmly as he led you through the front door.

“Mr. Barnes.” A blonde-haired woman at the reception said as you walked through the door. He dropped your hand, now safely in an uncrowded area. Bucky nodded to the woman and walked toward a door that said: “Authorised Personnel Only” in big red letters.

“You need a keycard to get in here?” You pointed toward the slot to the left of the door, only to watch Bucky place a card straight into it. He handed it to you, before walking through the door.

“James Buchanan Barnes. The Winter Soldier?” You glanced up at him, surprise in your eyes. “You’re the Winter Soldier, the one they talked about on the TV last year, and a few years before that? You-“

“I know what I did, [Y/N]. It wasn’t me,” his eyes filled with sadness when he looked down at you.

“I know, they said that, too. Brainwashed by HYDRA.” You lifted a hand to his shoulder. “I’ve known you for two days, but you seem like a good person to me.” You smiled at him, pulling your hand away.

“Thanks, that means a lot,” Bucky smiled back at you before walking over to an elevator and pressing the call button for it.

You heard the whizz of the elevator coming down from far up the Tower, nerves suddenly come over you. You didn’t know if the other Avengers would be here. You had looked up to them over the past few years, admiring the fact they went around saving the world without a second thought. You didn’t agree with people when they said that the Avengers were ‘reckless’ and ‘dangerous’. They were just doing their job, and everything comes with a little bit of collateral damage.

The elevator doors open and you stepped inside, Bucky leading. He pressed the button for a floor very high up on the tower. You guessed that’s where the Avengers spent most of their time, high up, out of the way. You stumbled a little as the elevator moved upwards, it was faster than regular ones. You weren’t very good at dealing with regular ones in the first place. Bucky caught you, placing his arm around you back to give you more balance. You felt heat rising to your face, but you still looked up at him, flashing a thankful smile before the elevator doors opened once more. He walked ahead of you, his confident stride taking him where he needed to go.

You were greeted by two of the Avengers. “Hey there,” the taller one spoke. “I’m Steve.” He held out his hand for you to shake.

“And I’m Sam, the prettier one,” you giggled at his remark.

“I know. I mean, it’s nice to meet you.” You cringed at the fact you probably just sounded like a fangirl. “I’m [Y/N].”

“Oh, we know.” Steve laughed, a puzzled look spread across your face. “You’ve known Bucky for a day and a half and he won’t stop texting me about you.” A devious grin spread across his face and he and Sam walked toward a door signed “GYM”.

You looked up at Bucky. “Won’t shut up about me, huh? Are you sure you’re not a stalker?” You playfully nudged his arm.

“I sent him like three messages,” he rubbed the back of his neck. You raised an eyebrow at him.

“Sure.” You walked around the large room that you were in, there was a living room area on one side and a kitchen area on the other. There was another elevator across the room which you could only assume led to the rooms of the Avengers living here.

“So, I have to train.” You turned to face him, he placed the rucksack he was carrying down on a table. “You can stay in here, or you can watch if you want.”

“I think I’ll watch, I’ve always wondered what it’s like to see an Avenger in action.”

“Or, you just want to see three very attractive men with their shirts off.” He winked at you, the corners of his lips edging up. “I completely understand.”

You rolled your eyes at him, causing him to grin even more. “Just take me to where you need to be.”


	4. Chapter 4

Bucky led you toward the same door Sam and Steve had previously gone through. There were multiple training rooms in the gym, a few empty with just mats, probably for sparring you presumed. Others had all different types of workout machines. You saw the two avengers in the larger room toward the back, one of the ones with just mats.

“This one, up the back,” Bucky motioned toward the room you were just thinking about.

“I gathered.” He looked back at you, raising his eyebrows, faking shock.

Walking through the doors, Steve and Sam stopped training to greet you once more. You spoke to them for a couple minutes while Bucky got ready, talking about how you met Bucky, and them joking about how he probably likes you. You blushed at the thought but quickly forgot about it.

“Looks like I forgot a shirt. Well, [Y/N], your wishes are coming true.” Bucky took the shirt he was already wearing off, leaving you to stare at his sculpted torso. You noticed the scars where his flesh met metal, and couldn’t help to think about how much pain he’s been through. You shuddered, bringing yourself to look away from his body.

Bucky and Steve stepped up to fight, standing in the middle of the mats, Sam sat down next to you on a bench on the back wall. You both had a good view of the training in process. You knew both Steve and Bucky were results of the super soldier serum, meaning they had the same abilities. They brought their fists up around their faces as guards and went into a fighting stance. Punches and kicks were thrown at each other. Sam was audibly commenting.

“Yeah, Steve! Beat his metal ass to the ground!” He cheered on, leaning forward as he got more into it.

You laughed at Sam before returning your gaze to the two soldiers ahead of you. Bucky had Steve pinned down on his front, left arm pulled up behind his back. Steve was struggling slightly, using his right arm to slap the mat beside him, signalling he was forfeiting. Bucky let go and stood up, sweat making his torso shine even more than before. You found yourself staring again, wondering what it would be like to feel him under your hands.

Sam snapped his fingers in front of you. “Earth to [Y/N]!” You blinked a few times before red filled your cheeks. He laughed and shook his head.

Bucky was walking toward you, towel in hand drying the sweat off of his face. He smiled at you, “like what you see?” His eyes twinkled as his smile grew bigger.

“Yeah, I guess.” You said nonchalantly, making sure to seem as if it wasn’t  _that_  big a deal, even though it was and you were incredibly impressed.

“Think you could do better?” Bucky laughed at you, turning to watch as Sam and Steve started sparring again.

Truth is, you actually have training in this kind of fighting. Your mother made you take it after an incident at a bar just after you turned 21. You were pretty good at it, but you hadn’t trained for about six months. No way could you do better than Bucky, but the thought was still lingering in your mind.

“I doubt I could. I can fight, mind you. But you  _are_  an Avenger, and I can’t beat an Avenger.” You turned your gaze to the two Avengers once more.

“You can fight?” Bucky sounded shocked. He sat down on the bench beside you, closer than usual. You could feel the heat radiating from him.

“Yeah, I have training.” You looked at him briefly. “I was good at it, but I haven’t trained in a while.”

“We  _are_  in a gym, [Y/N]. You could train with me if you want?” He showed a toothy grin before standing up again.

“No, no, I couldn’t do that. You’re an expert, I was just in it so I could beat up drunk men if it came to that.”

“Like you said, I’m an Avenger. I could help you get better. Then, who knows. Maybe you could join the team.”

You laughed at him.  _Me? An Avenger?_  You thought.  _Yeah, I wish._

“Anyway, I need someone to train with,” Bucky trained his eyes on you, pleading you to join him.

“Fine, but if I’m terrible, it’s your fault.” You got up beside him, and he led you to another training room.

“Actually, that’s the fault of not training.”

You rolled your eyes.

“So,” Bucky started, “you start in a fighting stance, legs spread slightly to give you more balance, fists up near your face to guard you.” He took your wrists and placed them where you need to be.

“Bucky, I know what fighting stance is. I haven’t trained for six months; it’s not like I have amnesia.” You giggled at him, fixing your position.

“We’ll see,” Bucky winked as he got into position.

You two threw punches at each other left and right, you dodged easily to his surprise. He was going easy on you but he decided to step up his game. He tried to kick at you but you grabbed his leg and flipped him. Bucky lay on the ground for a moment before getting back up, raising his eyebrows at you, he threw another punch. He hit you right in the jaw, but you shook it off, landing a blow at his torso, pushing him back a foot or two.

“I thought you hadn’t trained for a while,” he said with ease, stepping forward and resetting his position.

You were beginning to get breathless. “I haven’t. I did say I was good, though.” You smirked in between breaths.

“We’re going again,” Bucky rested his hands on your shoulders as your breaths became shallower.

“Fine,” you shrugged his hands off.

More punches were thrown, kicks to the sides. At one point Bucky pulled out a plastic training knife. You blocked his incoming hits with your arms, taking your opportunity to strike at him. He flipped his knife to his other hand. You were slightly taken aback by this act of ambidextrousness, so much so that Bucky had dropped the knife and had grabbed your wrists to hold them at your front. He was a lot stronger than you, and your struggle only made matters worse. Bucky smirked at you. He what dropped his guard, and just before he was about to say something, you kicked his leg, causing him to let go of your wrists and fall to the ground. You giggled at the sight.

“Well,” he said, standing up. “I think you have what it takes.”

You laughed as you walked over the wall, grabbing the towel Bucky had lain there. “I just caught you off guard, that’s all.” You wiped the sweat from your forehead.

Bucky leant against the wall, his torso glistening in the light. You did your best not to stare. “Not many people can do that.” He looked at you, blue eyes piercing into yours.

“I’m flattered.” You smiled at yourself, hoping Bucky didn’t notice. “I need to go home and change. I wasn’t exactly in gear for this.”

“You could just shower here. I’m sure Nat or Wanda wouldn’t mind you borrowing their clothes either.” He took the towel from you, wiping himself down.

“As if I could borrow clothes from the two most amazing females I’ve ever heard about.” You sat down on the bench, you had only just gathered all your breath back.

“Honestly, they wouldn’t mind. They’re not as scary as you’d think. Except Nat, after she’s lost an argument. That’s scary.” Bucky opened his eyes wide to emphasise, before grabbing his shirt and pulling it over his head. You were saddened by the motion. “I’d also like to take you out for dinner, so if you went home, got showered, changed, it wouldn’t be dinner time anymore.” He shrugged his shoulders, grabbing his bag and throwing it over his shoulder.

“I’ve known you for what? A day and a half? And you want to take me out to dinner,” you laughed, standing up as he walked over to the door.

“I wasn’t meaning it like that - unless you’d like me to. Because we can totally have that kind of dinner date if you want.” Bucky winked as he held the door open for you.  _How gentlemanly,_ you thought.

You were slightly flustered, “well- I-“ Bucky smiled at you, closing the door behind him as the two of you walked out. “It’s too soon for that.” You insisted even though it was all you could think about since you met him.

“You’re right, dates require at least 2 days of knowing each other. We don’t have that up our sleeves yet.” He began walking in a direction which you assumed was the showers.

You laughed at him, “exactly.”

“So dinner then?” He leant against the door that said “MEN” on the front. His demeanour was enticing, drawing you in. But you couldn’t think about that, you had just told Bucky it was too soon for that type of thing.

“Fine, if you insist.” You rolled your eyes, before turning to the door that had “WOMEN” written on it.

“Good.” Bucky went to open his door. “I’ll have someone bring some clothes down for you. F.R.I.D.A.Y.?”

“Already on it, Barnes.” You heard an automated voice call out. Stark tech, obviously. You had completely forgotten that was there.

“Thanks,” you smiled at Bucky before walking through the door. You leant against it, breathing slowly. You didn’t want to think about anything other than just being friends with Bucky. But there was this little thing in the back of your mind telling you it could be more than that. You shook it off, no way could you date an Avenger. Bucky Barnes, at that. He was amazing, loved worldwide now that the whole Winter Soldier/Hydra thing had blown over.

“Not a chance, [Y/N].” You mumbled to yourself as you stepped into the shower. “Not a chance."


	5. Chapter 5

Dinner with Bucky. How did you manage that? The hot water of the shower ran down your back as you thought. You didn’t know where it could lead, but you knew where you  _wanted_  it to lead. You’d known him for two days, though, and you didn’t think it was a good idea to move into something so soon. You had heard all the stories about him, or the Winter Soldier, rather. They didn’t seem like the same person to you, and you couldn’t understand how someone who seemed so gentle could be capable of those things. You didn’t want to think about what HYDRA did to him, all the horrific things they made Bucky do. You shuddered as you massaged soap into your hair. If it made you feel so bad, how did Bucky feel about it? He probably thinks of himself as a monster, and you didn’t want that. He’s not a monster. No matter what the people used to say about him.

You stepped out of the shower after rinsing your hair and body to find some clothes folded on a bench in the changing room and a small note that said, “From Nat, looking forward to meeting you!”  _Gee, did he tell everybody about me?_ You thought, before grabbing the clothes and moving into a cubicle to change. You felt safer in there, even though no one else was around. You unfolded the pile to reveal a pair of black skinny jeans and a white top that fell off your shoulder at the left side. It flared out slightly at the bottom around the top of the jeans. She had also left a pair of shoes, black heels about 3 or four inches high that laced up around the front. You were shocked at the fact they were your size but put them on nonetheless.

You looked at yourself in the mirror. You looked better than you thought you did, the heels making your legs look longer. You’d still be smaller than Bucky but you’d feel closer to him with the added height. You smiled at yourself before grabbing the clothes you were previously in and headed out.

You found your way back to the lounge area, Natasha and Bucky sitting on the couch together, Steve over at the island in the kitchen. Sam walked in from the elevator across the room just after you did. All three of the people in front of you turned and stared. Natasha was the first to speak.

“I think you look better in those clothes than I do.” She smiled at you before getting up to introduce herself. “I’m Natasha, you can call me Nat, though, most of these guys do.” Natasha shook you hand lightly before turning around and heading back to where she was sitting.

Bucky was still staring, looking you up and down. He smiled at you before getting up.

“Need me to take those?” He gestured toward the clothes you held under your left arm, you didn’t have anywhere to put them.

“Uh, yeah, if you have room.” Bucky grabbed his bag and opened it, then relieved you of your clothes and placed them into the bag. “Thanks,” you smiled, his eyes lit up at the gesture.

You couldn’t understand why Bucky took a liking to you. Most people would only say “hi” to their neighbours if they absolutely had to, but Bucky seemed to want to have everything to do with you. Like he wanted to spend every waking moment with you, which you found rather odd not only because you had just met him but because not a lot of people have been like that around you. He took a special interest in you like you were the most important thing in the world. Two days was not long enough for that to be normal.

“So, I thought we could go to this really nice Italian place?” Bucky questioned you after you began paying attention to him rather than your thoughts. “They do really great pizza.”

“Pizza? We had pizza last night,” you giggled.

“Okay, well. You can have spaghetti bolognese and I’ll have pizza, hm?” He raised his eyebrows at you before gesturing back toward the elevator you had originally come through earlier.

“I can deal with that, I guess.” You entered the elevator, the Avengers who were in the lounge waved toward you and Bucky before the doors closed.

You got to the restaurant after a short while of walking. It seemed quite fancy, tablecloths on the table, little candles positioned in the centre. The waiter spoke in an Italian accent, which you couldn’t tell if it was real or fake.

You sat at your table, picking up the menu. You started looking, though you stopped when you realised the price.

“Bucky” you whispered after placing the menu in front of you.

“[Y/N.” He replied back, whispering also.

“This is really expensive!”

“Nonsense. It’s fine.” Bucky placed his menu down too, only he closed it. You assumed he’d already chosen.

“30 dollars for steak is expensive, Bucky.” You said, pointing to where you saw the steak on the menu.

“I said it’s fine. I come here all the time.”

“I don’t have that kind of money,” you said, tapping your fingers on the table.

“Who said you were paying?” Bucky smiled at you, picking up your menu and placing it back in your hands.

“I’m not letting you pay for this,” you whined slightly. You didn’t want him to spend money on you, not this early into your friendship.

“You can pay me back in watching the rest of those Harry Potter movies with me. Just choose something, okay?”

You huffed and rolled your eyes. Admittedly it was nice of Bucky to do this, but you really didn’t want him to. You always insisted on paying at least for your own meal even with previous boyfriends, and Bucky certainly wasn’t that. Yet.

And so, you ordered. Your food came reasonably quickly, surprising as it was such a fancy restaurant and was rather busy. Bucky spent most of the time goofing around, trying to make you laugh. He could do that very easily, you discovered. Being around Bucky made you feel at ease.

“I shouldn’t have ordered this,” you laughed as you tried to wind spaghetti around your fork.

“Why? Spaghetti is great!” Bucky laughed back, taking a mouthful of pizza. You couldn’t believe he actually ordered pizza.

“It’s not exactly the most attractive food. Plus, I do not want to stain this top. Natasha is Black Widow, who knows what she could do to me!”

Bucky grinned. “It looks attractive on you,” he winked.

You blushed, looking away from him to try and cover it up. “You jest.”

“No, I mean you actually have sauce on your face.” Bucky was still smiling, you couldn’t tell if he was joking or not.

You took your napkin anyway and wiped it around your mouth, only to find there wasn’t anything there. “Ha ha, Bucky. You must have got all the ladies back in the 30’s.”

“I did, Steve can confirm. Still do, hopefully.” Bucky never took his eyes off of you as he spoke, he seemed so entranced with you as you were with him.

“I’m sure the metal arm does wonders,” you raised your eyebrows at him, causing him to laugh once more.

“It’s good for a lot more than just looking cool, I’ll tell you that.”

Bucky had now finished his pizza, and you had left some of your food. Bucky paid for the meal like he said he would, much to your detest. He held the door for you as the two of you walked out of the restaurant. He was being so gentlemanly that it would have put you off a little bit if you hadn’t known his background. You understood that men were more like this back then and that they’ve changed so much more nowadays, most would say for the worst.

It was dark out now, the street lights illuminating the street with an orange glow. The stars were barely visible under the hue, but you could still see the bright ones twinkling gently amidst the deep blue. You both walked for a while in a comfortable silence, you didn’t know exactly where you were going but you assumed Bucky knew his way around.

You found yourself in a small park, with a narrow walkway with trees surrounding it. It was a pretty area, lit up gently with fairy lights dangling around the branches. You smiled, it reminded you of back home. You would always have the tree in your front garden lit up with fairy lights all year round. You missed having that, but this brought it back to you.

You were taken aback slightly when you felt a warm sensation in your left hand. Bucky was looking down at you, shifting his flesh hand and intertwining it with yours. You were less opposed to the idea of being with Bucky now, you had realised that these things can happen fast, and you were willing to let it continue the way it’s going.

You squeezed his hand gently, letting him know you were okay with it. He smiled down at you, a picture that would be engrained into your mind for a long time.


	6. Chapter 6

It’s been a week since your day out with Bucky. He had been coming over to your apartment frequently, watching more Harry Potter and trying to convince you to order pizza. You had been to the Avengers Tower once more since then, too, and had met the rest of the Avengers. They all seemed nice enough, some even took a liking to you, like Natasha and Clint. Steve was a bit wary, probably because Bucky mentioned you a lot, but you had heard he was a nice guy and that’s all you needed. He’s Captain America, as if you’re going to argue with him.

“Have you made any other friends in the city, [Y/N]?” Bucky asked you. He was sprawled across your sofa, flicking through the channels on your TV.

“No, you keep getting in the way.” You laughed from just across the room. You were finishing up the designs on your walls, every time you got round to doing it, Bucky would knock on the door. So you decided to do it when he was here anyway, he would just have to deal with that.

“Well, I’m sorry that I like making friends with pretty girls,” Bucky glanced up at you with a twinkle in his eye. You didn’t reply to him, though, you just kept painting your walls and trying to keep your blushing to a minimum.

Bucky didn’t mention the fact he held your hand at the park back in Manhattan, maybe he had forgotten, maybe it was just a spur of the moment. But you couldn’t stop thinking about it. His hand felt so nice interlocked with yours, the warmth of his warmed up your almost constantly cold ones. You’d like to witness that feeling more, but you didn’t want to mention it either, so you kept to yourself.

“Who’s Mark?” Bucky called out, you noticed he had your phone in his hand.

“Why do you want to know?” You asked, closing up the lids on the paint pots and grabbing a cloth to wipe down your hands.

“He’s asking you how you are doing and he hopes that you are settling in well and that he wants to come over soon. Is he someone special?” Bucky seemed concerned. Truth is, Mark was your brother. You had just failed to mention anything about your family since you met him.

“Why would you care?” You provoked, begging for more answers as to why this was such a concern to him.

Bucky paused for a second. “No reason.”

“Okay, sure.” You took your phone off of him. “Mark is my brother, you have nothing to worry about.” You smiled condescendingly at him.

“I wasn’t worrying,”

“Says the shakiness in your voice,” you laughed at him before replying to your brother that everything was fine and that he can come over whenever, you didn’t have much of a busy schedule. “Shouldn’t you be at the Tower, anyway. Thought you had a job to do?”

“We don’t have any missions coming up so no, technically I don’t have to be there unless they really need me.” Bucky sat up on the sofa, leaving room for you to sit down. “Besides, here is a lot more fun.”

“More fun than hanging out with superheroes?”

“They lose their super-ness after being around them too long. They’re just like normal people to me.”

“I guess that’s the way they’d want people to see them.”

“Most people just want to be normal.” Bucky seemed down. You realised that’s what he wanted too, most people still saw him as a bad person, someone not to be liked. You didn’t want him to feel that way, you knew that he was a good person no matter what he did in the past.

“Are you okay?” You asked. You didn’t want to push him or pry for information.

“Yeah, of course,” Bucky replied, he had gone back to flicking through the channels on your TV.

“Are you sure?” He just looked at you as if to say “no, but don’t ask about it,” so you left it for now. But it nagged you all day long.

* * *

Bucky stayed with you for the rest of the day, watching movies or random episodes of Friends. He didn’t talk much, though, only little comments about what was going on, or asking questions when he was confused. You knew he was frustrated about something, ever since your conversation earlier. But you had noticed that Bucky wasn’t really the type to open up about himself that easily and while you tried your best to be accommodating, you were too worried about him now.

You got up to get yourself a drink, Bucky was entranced with the next episode of Friends that had come on the screen. It must have been the fourth or fifth one but you understood, Friends is something you could watch for years and it will never get old.

“Do you want anything?” You called while peering into the fridge.

“Hm?” He barely glanced up at you.

“Do you want a drink?” You had taken out some orange juice and poured it into a glass for yourself.

“Just some water, thanks.” His voice was monotonous, a change from his usually welcoming tone.

You got Bucky his glass of water and brought it over. He smiled gently at you as he took his glass. You wanted to talk to him so badly.

You took the remote and turned off the TV, causing Bucky to turn toward you in confusion.

“What’s up? I’ve known you for a week and I can already tell something’s off,” you said plainly, setting your glass down on the coffee table.

“What do you mean?” Bucky asked, though he clearly knew what you were on about. He shifted in his seat a little.

“You’re quieter than usual. You usually make more snarky comments. Your eyes are more puppy-dog like than usual.” You placed a hand on his shoulder.

“You don’t need to worry yourself about me, [Y/N].” He said in a low tone.

“I do, though. You make it hard not to.” You laughed slightly, your eyes trained on his, not wanting to look away.

“I don’t understand how you can see me so normally. All I see when I look in the mirror is a monster. I’ve killed people, [Y/N], and yet you don’t seem to care about that.” He lifted his metal arm up to the light. “This wasn’t made for love or kindness. It was made for destruction and terror. And that’s all I’ll ever be.”

“Bucky,” you started. He looked as if he was almost on the brink of tears. “You may have done all those things, but you didn’t have a choice. You knew what you were doing was wrong, but you couldn’t control it. Nobody should blame you for that, especially yourself.” You moved slightly closer to him, placing your hand that was originally on his shoulder onto his knee. “I definitely don’t blame you for it. You’ve proven to me that you’re one of the kindest people out there.”

Bucky lifted his eyes to yours, they were watery but no tears fell. He was trying to hold himself together, that much you could see. Strands of his long hair fell over his face, across his cheeks. You realised how truly beautiful he was in that moment. He had let go of his usual strong demeanour, and this is what you were left with. A real person with real feelings.

Your eyes were still locked, his icy blue ones met with yours. There was so much emotion in them you couldn’t tell what he was feeling anymore.

That was until he lifted his metal hand to your cheek and pressed his lips to yours. Colliding in some sort of fiery passion. At first, you were, but then you began to move your lips in sync with his. Your hands tangled into his hair as he brushed his tongue against your lips, begging for entry. His tongue slid into your mouth, and you’d think after 70 years he’d be a little rusty but,  _god_ , was he better than you’d expected. Bucky pushed you gently so that the two of you were now lying on the couch, not once breaking contact. You hadn’t realised how much you wanted this, but Bucky knew, and he continued with pleasing you. You tugged at his bottom lip as Bucky deepened the kiss more. You don’t know how long this went on for, but when you finally pulled apart for air, it seemed like a million years had passed. Bucky lay there, one hand supporting himself from being completely on top of you and the other caressing your waist, just above the hip. Your eyes met his darkened ones, filled full of passion and adoration.

Bucky smiled gently at you. “How’s that for 90 years old?” He laughed before sitting back up, pulling you up with him.

“Not bad, think you need more practice, though,” you joked before planting another kiss on his cheek.

He raised an eyebrow at you, almost as if he was challenging you. “We’ll see about that.”


	7. Chapter 7

It’s been just over a month since the kiss, and there have been many more since. Bucky never explicitly asked you to go out with him or be his girlfriend, but you were at that level. He hadn’t told his Avenger friends, surprising because they seemed to rave on about how much he talked about you. Tony seemed wary of you, though, as if he thought there was something wrong with you being there. You trained at the Tower more and more, however, and there was lots of talk about them recruiting you. You liked the idea of helping the Avengers and the world, but you didn’t know if it was  _really_  for you. Bucky liked the idea, though, to an extent. He didn’t want you getting hurt, or captured.

You had just finished training with Clint. He was one of the Avengers that took to you very easily, it was probably very comforting having another “normal” person there along with him.

“You’re getting better,” he laughed, getting up from the mat you had just knocked him onto. “Almost as good as me.”

“I’d say I’m better, Barton.” You joked, pulling your hair down from the ponytail you had it tied up in.

“I’ll be the judge of that.” Clint packed his bag up and swung it around his shoulder. “I’m gonna go solo for an hour or so, see you in a bit.”

You smiled at him as he left the room, leaving you to pack up your own things.

“Hey, doll.” You heard a husky voice say. You looked up to meet with his sapphire eyes.

“Hey, Buck,” you smiled at him before he came over to grip you in a tight hug. “You okay?” You asked, usually his hugs were soft and light, yet still loving. This was something more.

He let go and stepped back slightly. “Yeah, I’m fine. Fury wants to speak with you, though.”

“Me? Why?” You were a little shocked, though you knew it was probably about recruitment.

“I don’t know. Recruitment, maybe? It won’t be anything bad, though.” He smiled gently before picking up your bag for you and heading to the door.

“What if it is about recruitment. What do you want me to do?” You needed someone else’s opinion other than your own, you knew what he was going to say, though.

“It’s entirely up to you, sweetheart. I don’t want to sway you either way.” Bucky opened the door for you, letting you walk out before you.

You went up to speak to Fury, still unsure of what decision you should make should he ask you about joining.

* * *

As you walked into Fury’s office, you saw him sitting in his huge chair, in front of his glass windows that covered the entire wall. You didn’t see him much, but he looked like he had a permanently stern expression. He gestured for you to sit in the chair in front of his desk.

“You’re settling in quite well here?” Fury asked you, clasping his hands together in front of him.

“I just hang around; train a little bit is all.” You said, shifting slightly in your chair.

“You and Bucky seem to get along very well.” He sat up straighter in his chair.

You looked at him, wondering if he knew about the two of you. “Yeah, he’s been really kind to me, being my neighbour and all.”

He glanced at you before picking up a folder on his table and handing it to you. “What would you do in this situation?”

You looked at the folder Fury had handed you. It had details on some HYDRA bases, noting that they may be planning an attack. Soon. You assumed the file was fake, made up to see how you would handle a situation.

While reading the folder, you heard a huge blast, glass shattering into the room. You covered yourself as much as humanly possible, but small shards still stuck to your arms. Fury was knocked out. You rushed over to him, trying your best to wake him but no amount of shaking or slapping his face would wake him. You pulled out your phone to call Bucky only to find a message telling you to stay put and that he’d find you. You were on a high up floor, surely you were safe.

You felt searing pain ring through your right shoulder blade. You fell to your knees and screamed in agony. Another shot was made lower down on your torso. You felt arms grab you, assuming it was Bucky you were relieved. But you blacked out before you got your answer.

* * *

You woke up, unable to move. The room was dark, barely lit except for the light coming through small windows at the top of the wall. It smelled damp as if there was water running before, spread throughout the room. And it was cold, so cold. Your body felt as though it could be frozen in ice.

You wriggled, now realising you were strapped to a chair, restraints wrapped around your wrists and your ankles. You figured that struggling would only make your situation worse. So you sighed a deep sigh and looked for anything noticeable about the room you were in. There was a door on the far side of the room, bright light peeking through the seams. You noticed some tables to your left, various contraptions lying on top. You didn’t even want to think about what they were used for. You leant your head back, trying to swing back strands of hair that lay upon your face, annoyed when some wouldn’t move.

The door opened. The bright light shadowed the figure walking in, though you could see they were tall, muscular. You didn’t like the look of them.

“HYDRA take no prisoners,” a deep, grumbly voice said. “You- you are special, however.”

You were confused. How were you special other than your small link to the Avengers? Even that wasn’t stable yet.

The man grabbed a chair and pulled it in front of you. You still couldn’t see the features on his face, due to the fact he left the door open.

“[Y/F/N].” He had a clipboard, and he was visibly looking at it. “You have the potential for much greater things.”

You still didn’t speak, you didn’t risk opening your mouth and potentially making things worse.

“Your genes are perfect. We can make you better than anything we’ve ever created before. Better than the Red Skull, better than the Winter Soldier.”

Bucky? He was a super-soldier. What on earth were they planning on doing to you? He went through decades of agonising pain, decades of being made to assassinate innocent people. What would they do to you?

“We have been experimenting. The super-soldier serum once used to create Captain America, the Winter Soldier has been enhanced.” You noticed the man spoke with a slight accent. German, maybe? Possibly Swiss. He was definitely European, though. “You will be stronger. Faster. Deadlier.”

You didn’t want to be deadlier. You wanted to be you, not some enhanced version of you.

“Yes, we know Barnes was in the building. Why not go for him, you ask? He knows too much, he’s too aware now. We could brainwash him again but now that his long-lost Steve knows he’s alive. It would never work.” He stood, placing his clipboard down on the table to you left. “You, however, you are new, we can make an even better Winter Soldier, and lure the old one here in the process.” The man paused. “He will come for you, yes? I’d hate for this to be the tragic end to a blossoming love story.”

Have they been surveying you the entire time you’ve been here? How much do they know about you and Bucky? You had so many unanswered questions but you did not dare to open your mouth.

“Now, it will be much easier for you if you don’t struggle. This will numb you, you may even pass out. But everything will be okay. And when you wake up, you won’t know what hit you.”

You couldn’t believe this was happening. You were hoping that Bucky and the Avengers would burst in right at that moment. But they didn’t show up and you were left with this strange man injecting something into your arm. It hurt at first, all over, and then you felt nothing. No pain, no relief, nothing. Your eyes felt heavy as if you were drifting to sleep. Nothingness turned into darkness and you were left to briefly think about the torture to come.


	8. Chapter 8

“What do you mean it didn’t work?” You heard a voice shout, obviously angry.

“The serum, it didn’t turn her like it should have.” Another voice said trying to stay calm at the whole situation.

You didn’t move, you didn’t open your eyes, you wanted to know what exactly went wrong.

“Then what did it do?”

“We are not… entirely sure.”

 _Great_. You thought.  _Who knows what’s wrong with me now._

“The subject is  _enhanced,_  however. You can see it in her vitals. Slower heart rate, enhanced muscle mass. Not as much as you wanted, but it’s there.”

“Well, at least we got something out of her.”

You didn’t know whether you should make it known you were awake. You figured you should run with it, for now, do what they say, don’t do anything completely wrong or make it seem like you were completely disgusted by everything they were doing.

You fluttered your eyes open as if you were just waking up. The entire room was white, accompanied by bright blinding lights. There were 3 men in lab coats surrounding you, various electrical equipment and monitors were being operated. You noticed you were hooked up to a drip, blue liquid running through the tube. Most “good” liquids were not blue, though HYDRA weren’t exactly known for being good.

“The subject is awake. Miss [Y/N], how are you feeling?” They seemed nice enough. Seemed.

“Okay, I guess?” You placed your hands on the side of the bed they had you laid on to help yourself sit up. Only, the bed shook, vibrations running through the metal railings. One of the men placed his hand on the bed to see what was going on, and it shocked him.

“Write that down.” The man said. “How exquisite. Electrical powers? I wonder what else your body harnessed from the serum. Nothing like Rogers or Barnes, no. Something much more fascinating.”

The serum was supposed to do to you what it did to Bucky and Steve. And it didn’t. You didn’t have bulging muscles no matter how awesome you thought that might be, no rippling abs. But electrical powers? Obviously something science-y would explain it because magic doesn’t exist but it was one hell of a deal.

“You could be a better assassin than Barnes at this rate.” The man paced, picking up a clipboard and tapping it with his pen. “Or any of the other Winter Soldiers.”

_There was more of them? Of course there was more of them._

“Let’s see what else you can do.”

* * *

The HYDRA scientists put you through multiple training exercises; practising your aim with a gun, your hand to hand combat, and finally how to manage your new powers. You had to focus, concentrate on them. At first, they were unpredictable, you’d electrocute things without meaning to, set things alight with lighting. But you got control of them, eventually. You quite liked the powers, you just didn’t like what HYDRA had planned for them. They suspected nothing of you because you complied so well, got you through day in, day out without having to brainwash you or coerce you in any way.

You didn’t know how long it had been, though. You had been awake for at least a few weeks, but you had no clue how long you were under for, no clue how long they experimented on you. You just had hope that Bucky would come bust you out of this hellhole, and that’s what kept you going.

HYDRA were being quite nice to you, you noticed. Probably because you didn’t stir up a fuss like most others would, but you didn’t want to risk them getting in your head. You had already started devising a plan just in case Bucky or the Avengers didn’t rescue you in time. The training they were giving you was assassin level, and very little time you could very well beat a super-soldier in a battle. But if you could do that, you could most definitely take down some unenhanced individuals like the scientists experimenting on you.

“Wrong.” The man instructed you remarked. “All wrong.”

“I hit the targets perfectly,” you almost whined, slightly out of breath from the course you just ran.

“You took too long to react; you would’ve been dead before you could raise your hands.”

You huffed and started again, targets flipping up from every corner. You switched between your gun and your electricity to hit them.

“That was better. Do it again.”

The work they made you do was intensive, though you realised they did want you to be better than the best. And so, you accepted it, only complaining slightly less than the normal person would but not enough for them to do anything about it.

* * *

You woke to sirens and red flashing lights. An automated voice rang throughout the building; “Code red. All soldiers report.” You guessed that didn’t mean you since they still kept you in a highly locked cell. At least it actually had a bed and a bathroom, so it wasn’t completely prison like. The door wasn’t locked manually, though, it was digital. You could fry the network with your powers, unlock the door. You had thought about your escape before, but you didn’t know what they would do to you. At least if they caught you this time, you could say you were trying to help.

You got up from your bed and put on some better fighting clothes rather than the ones you slept in. you walked toward the door, looking out the little window to see if there was anyone nearby. You held your hands up near where the locking mechanism was, focusing hard on not making the electricity fly everywhere. Little sparks flew from the palm of your hands, lighting up the room more than it already was. You heard the door click and pried at it with your fingers trying to get it to move from its position. The door slid open, leaving you to slip into the empty hallway.

 _What even is a ‘code red’?_  you thought to yourself as you tip-toed your way along the wall, listening carefully above the sirens for footsteps. That was another thing the serum gave to you, you could hear better, see further, all of your senses were enhanced. It could have been worse.

“Her room should be down one of these corridors,” you heard a familiar voice say. You stopped in your tracks, pressing your back against the wall. “You go find [Y/N], I’ll deal with these guys.”

“Thanks, Steve, for helping me find her.” Bucky? You instantly felt even more relieved at the sound of his voice.

“Anything for you, Buck.” You heard Steve run off, with Bucky’s footsteps trailing closer toward you.

“Bucky?” You called out, unsure of which corridor he was actually down, there were so many of them.

“[Y/N? [Y/N], is that you?” There was worry in Bucky’s voice, however, a hint of relief could be detected. You heard his footsteps grow louder as he started running.

He came out from a corridor a few paces in front of you, turning to look at you. Bucky ran towards you, wrapping his arms around you tightly.

“I thought I’d never find you,” he whispered. You could have sworn he sounded like he was crying, but when he pulled away, his eyes were barely glassy. He furrowed his brow, “what did they do to you? Did they hurt you? Did they put things in your brain?” His hands lay on your shoulders, gripping them tightly.

“No, they didn’t do anything to me. Well, nothing bad anyway.” You looked away from him, not wanting to tell him about the serum.

“[Y/N],” Bucky’s voice wasn’t angry, more pained, but he stayed calm. “What did they do to you?”

“They injected me with this serum.” His eyes went wide, yet he waited for you to finish. “It didn’t do to me what it did to you and Steve. It gave me powers.” You held you hand up and let some sparks loose. “I can’t quite control it yet, but it’s pretty cool, I guess.”

Bucky hugged you once more. “At least they didn’t hurt you. I’m sorry we took so long.”

“It’s only been a month or so.” You said, confused as to what he meant.

“You’ve been here for three and a half months.” Shock set over you, you didn’t realise it had taken that long. How long were you out for?

“You found me eventually, that’s all that matters.” Bucky kissed you on the forehead. You sighed at the feeling, not realising how much you missed it.

“Let’s get you out of here and kick some HYDRA ass. What do you say?” Bucky held out a handgun for you to take, you grabbed it cautiously.

“I’m in.”


	9. Chapter 9

You and Bucky quickly ran through the facility, taking out the soldiers who got in your way. You tried to find your way to Steve and the rest of the Avengers they had brought with them. Turns out, this is their main facility, meaning they keep all of their secrets somewhere in here. Though their main mission was to find you, updated information on HYDRA was an added benefit.

You found yourself in a room that you didn’t recognise. It was filled full of terminals, some new, some old, with black and green screens. They made your eyes hurt looking at them, but you saw that Natasha had no problem scanning her eyes over them.

“Found her,” Bucky said as he walked into the room, smiling at you. You missed how his blue eyes twinkled and how the corner of his eyes creased when he smiled at you.

Natasha gasped when she looked up and saw you. Rushing over she asked you all sorts of questions along the lines of “are you okay?” and “who do I need to kill for you?” You just smiled as she pulled you into a friendly embrace. She had obviously been fighting but the smell of coconut shampoo filled your nose. You hadn’t smelled such a pleasant smell in weeks.

“I’ve been gathering data from these terminals. You’d think they’d keep this room more secure judging by all the data they keep in here. They have so many plans, multiple hideouts everywhere. They must have spies in S.H.I.E.L.D. again, there’s no way they could gain all of this information on us. Especially [Y/N], she wasn’t even an Avenger yet.” Natasha continued talking about the information that she had found on the computers. You weren’t really paying attention to her talking, but instead, you zoned out a little bit, relieved to be in the company of friends.

You hadn’t noticed that Steve and Sam had crept in through the door behind you until Sam made some sarcastic remark about HYDRA and how they have a thing for capturing attractive people. Steve gave you a reassuring smile as he patted you on the shoulder before going to talk to Natasha. Sam still stood beside you, almost like he was trying to protect you in case some HYDRA goons decided to show up.

“Stark is patrolling the outside, keeping an eye on the skies. How’s the data search going?” Steve asked Natasha, his eyes scanning the computer she was in front of.

“Almost done. They have a few encrypted files but it should be easy enough to decrypt them.” Natasha said, not taking her eyes off of the screen.

You stayed out of their way for the rest of the time you spent in the terminal room. The others didn’t know about your newfound powers yet, and you weren’t sure what they would think. You didn’t know how to control it completely right now either, or how powerful it really was. They probably had no experience with something like you, training would be incredibly difficult.

“Right, we should probably leave while our heads are still on our shoulders,” Steve said, putting a hand on your shoulder, knocking you out of your little trance.

Bucky’s eyes were set on you, tracing over all your little details. He didn’t say much to you, but through his eyes, he showed sympathy. He knew what it was like, he’d been through it himself. You knew he had gone through much worse, though, but you understood it more now.

They pushed out the door, guns out in front just in case anyone showed up. They didn’t. You all got out of the compound easily to find Tony waiting for you out at one of the side entrances.

“The quinjet’s just a few metres up, into the woodland,” Tony said to you. He seemed concerned about you, which wasn’t something you’d seen him express for you before.

“Thanks, Tony.” You said, looking up at him before continuing to walk on with the others. He seemed tired, more-so than usual. He was dealing with something he wouldn’t tell anyone about, trying to keep himself looking strong, but you knew there was something wrong. You left him to it, though. Intruding isn’t something you wanted to do.

The quinjet ride was quiet. It’s not like it was awkward or anything, but there was something in the air no one wanted to mention. Some sort of uncertainty. You fiddled with you fingers, nails bitten right to the nailbeds. You hadn’t noticed until now, it was something you used to do as a kid when you got nervous. You thought you had grown out of it but obviously, that wasn’t the case. Each bump in the ride made you jump slightly and Bucky would glance over at you, his face riddled with worry. He was bursting to talk to you, yet he wouldn’t in front of the others. He tapped his fingers on his metal arm almost silently against his leg, out of anxiety or anticipation, you couldn’t tell.

The aircraft landed and everyone got off. Natasha rushed to get her information to Fury, Steve grabbed you before Bucky could, taking you to the infirmary.

“I’m sure I could have taken myself, Steve,” you said, rubbing your forearm where Steve had his hand.

“I’m making sure you’re okay.” He glanced back at you, blue eyes darker than usual. “And I need to tell you something, before Bucky does.”

“What do you mean “before Bucky does”?” you enquired, confused as to why Steve had to be the one to tell you this cryptic message.

“He doesn’t know the whole story, you’d only get parts of the information that you need to know.” Steve walked a little faster than you, causing you to need to catch up a bit after a few minutes. You still stayed behind him, however.

“Why doesn’t he know the whole story? What’s going on, Steve?” You reached for his arm to stop him from walking so that you could talk to him more clearly. He turned to you.

“He knows what he needs to know. Trust me, I don’t like keeping things from him, but if he knew then he could do something drastic. I trust you’re more level-headed than he is.” Steve did look slightly distraught. Bucky was his oldest friend, there’s no way he would do this willingly. “First, you’re going to get checked up. We need to make sure HYDRA didn’t put anything that could kill you inside you, like a remotely activated bomb.”

You raised your eyebrows in shock. “I’m sure I’d know if there was a bomb inside me.”

“You’re still going in.” He opened the door to the infirmary for you. “Don’t leave until I come back for you. We’re still not sure how entirely safe the Tower is after that attack.”

Steve left as you walked through the door. The doctors in there seemed to know exactly what to do; putting you in for scans, probing you will metal rods, checking your blood. It took maybe a few hours at most, longer than you expected, however. Once they were done with you, they called up Steve to pick you up. You knew you were fully capable of taking care of yourself, yet you let him come get you, to hear what he has to say.

Steve had changed out of his suit by the time he came, wearing a plain grey shirt that fit him a bit too tightly and some black joggers. He looked like he was about to go work out, maybe it was just the clothes he had here.

Steve took you to a little cafe just 10 minutes from the Tower. “Couldn’t risk Bucky overhearing,” he had said. You obliged, following him around the block. He ordered you both coffee, and you sat down at a little table towards the back.

“[Y/N]?” Steve asked you. You had been quietly sipping on your coffee, waiting for him to initiate his conversation.

You looked up at him, indicating your interest. Steve handed you a brown folder, the S.H.I.E.L.D. logo displayed on the front. Big bold letters ran diagonally across the folder stating “CLASSIFIED.” You slid the folder over to your side of the table, opened the front cover.

You skimmed your eyes over the front page, your eyes rested on two words. “Project Cobra.”


	10. Chapter 10

“Steve. What’s Project Cobra?” You asked hesitantly, placing the folder back town on the table slowly.

“It’s something HYDRA were working on while they grew under S.H.I.E.L.D. It never got approved by any of the actual S.H.I.E.L.D. employees, but we think they were working on it afterwards, too.” His voice was hushed slightly, so as to not draw much attention to the two of you at the table.

You flicked through the pages. Something about a serum they were trying to develop, similar to the one used in Project Rebirth for Steve.

“It’s supposed to turn a human into another super soldier, like me or Bucky. But it also links into the South American folklore about Kanimas. Do you know what they are?”

“Think I saw it on a TV show once,” you said absentmindedly, you were still flicking through the folder.”

“Well, these Kanimas were kind of like werewolves,apparently, also a mythical creature mind you, except they had longer claws, long tails, and they were covered with scales like a reptile.” You were confused as to why Steve was telling you this information, and why it was important you knew more than Bucky did.

“The serum they were working on, didn’t do any of that, no tail, no scales. But it did stay true to one part of the lore; it was supposed to give whoever it was used on paralytic venom. Anyway, when we first found out about it, we thought they’d make some sort of army out of this, however, that wasn’t the case.”

“So what is the case?” you asked, you had gotten to the end of the file so you placed it down and drank your coffee. You didn’t really know what else to say right at that moment.

“A few months ago we had a small attack, HYDRA, of course. We found out that they were looking for Bucky again. So then we thought they’d use it on Bucky, turn him into this thing.”

“But he’s still okay right, he’s not like this thing is he?” You were suddenly very worried. If it didn’t happen to Bucky then chances are they could have used it on you.

“Yes, Bucky’s fine. But then was the attack, the one where they took you.” Steve trailed off, like he didn’t want to say what was next.

“You think they gave it to me? That’s not the power I got, I have electrical powers. I thought Bucky told you.”

“The thing about this serum is it takes a while to develop, while they may have given you another serum which gave you your powers, they might have injected this one, too, and it just hasn’t developed yet.” He spoke slowly, smoothly so as to not worry you or frighten you.

“That would explain why they thought it had gone wrong when I woke up,” it made sense now, you thought.

“Exactly. That’s why I sent you to the infirmary as well, to see if we could find any anomalies.” You could see that Steve was obviously worried about you, about what you might become.

“So, Bucky doesn’t know that I could still become that. He thinks I’m safe?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

You thought for a second. Should you tell Bucky, he is your boyfriend after all. But then again, you didn’t want to worry him either, and you certainly didn’t want him to be scared of you.

“Why do you think that they gave it to me?” you asked. They really had no reason to think they injected it into you.

“We swept the entire facility, and we didn’t find any vials of serum, even the regular stuff. Unless they kept it hidden in some secret room we didn’t find, they definitely used it.”

You took a sip of your coffee, unsure of what to say.

“You should probably go home, [Y/N]. Have a think about it. Our scientists were already working on a reversal serum just in case, we’re not sure if it’ll work but it’s all we’ve got.”

You finished your coffee in one last gulp. “Okay, I’ll see you tomorrow, Steve.” You got up from your chair and walked out of the little coffee shop.

You checked your phone on the way to the station and noticed that Bucky had messaged you.

“They sent me home, let me know when you’re on your way back.”

You replied to him and continued on to the station.

It was quite late, around 8 o’clock. The sun was almost down and the stars began peeking out in the sky. You had time to think on your journey home. You couldn’t recall the scientists ever talking about anything other than your powers, or that something different should have happened other than when you woke up and that was about the super soldier part. They actually seemed rather pleased with their ‘results’ so if anything else was supposed to happen, they really didn’t let on.

When you got back you immediately turned up the heating, your apartment was freezing, probably because no one had been in for such a long time. You went out and knocked on Bucky’s door to let him know that you were back. He opened the door slowly, revealing his tired face. He took one look at you and smiled instantly, almost as if all of his fatigue lifted the second your presence was known.

“[Y/N], you’re back!” Bucky pulled you into an embrace as if he hadn’t seen you just a few hours ago. “What did Steve want with you?”

You knew Steve didn’t want you to tell Bucky what he told you, you instantly had a sour taste in your mouth when you decided to lie to him, but it was for the best, for now. “He wanted to get them to run tests on me, just in case some weird serum stuff was still in me, and he told me about some of the side effects of the serum he got in case I got them, too.”

“Oh, okay then. I thought it was something really bad. I’m glad you’re okay.” He smiled at you once more before taking you into his apartment.

You sat on his sofa, his place was a bit of a mess which wasn’t normal for Bucky. He tried to keep it as tidy as possible, maybe he was just more focused on finding you.

“Sorry it’s a bit of a mess,” he said as if he’d been able to read your mind. “I haven’t been in the right frame of mind since they kidnapped you.” Bucky handed you a glass full of wine before sitting down next to you and taking a sip from his own glass.

“How long was I really gone for? Everyone’s been giving me really vague answers.” You asked, drinking some of your wine then placing the glass down gently on the table.

“I think it was the middle of the July when they took you, the 16th? It’s September 22nd now.” He said carefully.

“Oh. That’s more than 2 months.” You knew you were gone for a while so you weren’t sure why it came as such a shock to you. “Didn’t seem as long as that.”

“Were you having fun there or something?” Bucky turned his whole body toward you, intrigued by your answer.

“I would say I loved it,” you started, “but it wasn’t entirely awful. I can understand why you’d hate it, but they didn’t do anything extremely bad to me. If they brainwashed me or tortured me like they did to you then, yeah, it’d be horrific. But they actually taught me how to fight and useful things like that.”

Bucky thought for a moment, almost confused at what you just said, as if he couldn’t comprehend it. “They didn’t do anything bad to you?”

“Nothing other than the serum, no.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. Fairly certain. I’m fine, okay? You got me back, there’s no need to worry.” You smiled at him sympathetically, placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

He looked up at you, blue eyes fixated to yours. “Okay,” Bucky said quietly. He leaned forward and kissed you gently.

You and Bucky chatted for a while more, about how they managed to find you by raking through every single S.H.I.E.L.D. file they possibly could, or how Natasha was so determined to find you that she would barely sleep. He still hadn’t told the guys that the two of you were dating yet, but he was thinking of a way to tell them. As if they hadn’t already guessed, but you let him marvel at his cute little ideas.

You ended up watching some reruns of Friends on the TV, cuddled up to Bucky on the sofa under a blanket.

“Did you want another glass of wine, [Y/N]?” you heard Bucky ask you, but you were half asleep, so you gave him an unintelligible grunt and snuggled deeper under his arm.

“I’ll take that as a no,” he giggled softly as he pulled up the blanket up to cover you completely. He pressed a kiss to your forehead before turning off the TV and settling in to fall asleep himself.


	11. Chapter 11

You felt Bucky move out from underneath you, a phone ringing in the room. You didn’t think much of it, so you shifted yourself so you were comfortable once more and almost instantly fell back asleep.

“Hey, [Y/N].” You fluttered your eyes open, squinting at the bright light. Bucky was knelt next to the couch.

“Hey,” you muttered back, pulling up the blanket more for warmth.

“It’s almost 11am and I was going to make breakfast. Do you want anything?” His smile was as beautiful as ever.

“Yeah, what do you have?” You sat up, blanket still draped across half of your body.

“Uh, bacon, eggs… bread? Bucky laughed, “that’s it, that’s all I have.”

“I guess I’ll have a bacon and egg sandwich then,” you laughed with him.

“Coming up!” He went over to the kitchen area and began cooking.

You switched the TV on, it was still playing Friends repeats. “Is that show on all the time?” You heard Bucky shout.

“Yeah, I guess it’s like iconic or something. Not that you would know.” You turned up the volume slightly so you could hear it over the sizzling of the bacon.

“Here,” he handed you a plate with your sandwich on it before sitting down next to you.

“Thanks,” you shot him a smile before taking a bite.”

“Steve was talking to me this morning, said he tried to call you but couldn’t get through.” He turned the TV back down, Bucky didn’t like things being too noisy.

“Oh, what did he want?” You asked, mouth half-full.

“He just wanted to make sure that you were okay and said he wanted to speak to you later.”

You nodded your head at him, turning your gaze back to the television.

* * *

You were back at the Tower, Bucky insisted you stayed at home for a few more days but you wanted to go in, Steve needed to talk to you anyway.

Fury greeted you as you walked into the Tower, handing you a pass card and a code.

“What’s this for?” You asked, turning them over in your hands.

“Well, you’re an Avenger now, right?” He looked you straight in the eye and walked off without saying anything more.

You took the elevator up to the top of the tower to meet Steve, Bucky had other things to do so he said he’d meet you at some point later in the day.

Natasha was in the lounge when you got up. “Hey, [Y/N]. You doing okay?” She asked with a smile.

“Yeah, I’m alright thanks. Have you seen Steve?” You looked around but he was nowhere to be seen.

“I think he’s in his room.” She pointed over to the other elevator that went to the bedrooms. “If not, he’ll probably be in one of the training rooms.”

“Awesome, thanks.”

You walked over to the separate elevator, trying to figure out which floor Steve was on. You noticed they had helpfully put the names of who’s on what floor, so you pressed the button for Steve’s floor and waited the couple of seconds it took to move.

You knocked on his door and awaited the reply of “come in” from Steve. You stood in the doorway, admiring the light, open colour of his room.

“You wanted to see me? Bucky said you spoke to him earlier about it.” You questioned him, leaning against the doorframe now.

“Yeah, I couldn’t get through to you, your phone kept ringing out.” He was on a laptop, checking out files or something, you couldn’t see exactly.

“I spent the night at Bucky’s, accidently left my phone in my apartment.”

“Ah, okay. Well, they came back with your results.” He turned in his swivel chair to face you. “It doesn’t look like anything bad if I’m honest.”

“Well, that’s a relief.” You laughed, but Steve’s face remained serious.

“It does mean, however, that they used it on someone else. Or are still planning on using it. Did you see anyone else being experimented on while you were there?” He turned back to the laptop when it made a notification sound.

You tried to rake through your memory but nothing came up. “No, it was only me. There wasn’t even anyone else the corridor my room was in. I don’t know how big the facility was, though, there could have been others but they never spoke about it.”

“They’re still trying to get through the files we recovered. They’re still encrypted, Nat just managed to transfer them over. Hopefully they’ll have something on them but it might take a while.” Steve was typing, it looked like an email though you couldn’t be sure.

“But everything’s good, right? I’m not going to turn into some weird monster from ancient myth or whatever?”

“Yeah, you’re okay as far as we can tell. Don’t worry about it.” He shot a warm smile then furrowed his brow in frustration as he turned to the screen in front of him.

“Is there anything I can help you with? I’m sure I know more about tech than you do.” You laughed at him, coming further into his room and leaning on the back of his chair.

“It’s just an email about things that need to happen, it’s nothing to worry about. I’m just not sure how to respond.” Steve shook his head in shame.

“We’ve all been there, Steve.” You patted his shoulder, “are you sure I can’t help, though?”

“Yeah, I’m sure. Bucky should be here by now anyway, right? He said he’d be a little later than you.” He began typing on the keyboard,

“Yeah, I’ll go find him. Catch you later, Steve.”

You took the elevator back down to the lounge to find Natasha gone, replaced by Sam watching some nature documentary. Bucky was nowhere to be seen, however.

“Those sure are interesting, right?” You said to Sam as you sat on the opposite side of the sofa.

“Oh yeah, definitely. I just like to have it as background noise sometimes.” He looked at you, flashing a smile before returning to the TV.

“Background noise to what? You’re literally doing nothing else.”

“Hey! Don’t catch me out, alright?” He threw a cushion at you and you threw your hands up in defence, leaving the cushion to be thrown across the room, spilling a glass of water in the process.

“I’m not cleaning that up, Sam.” You leaned across to grab the cushion and subsequently throw it back at him, hitting him square in the face yet he didn’t flinch a bit.

“It’s carpet, it’ll dry.”

“You better hope it does!”

You both turned your attention to the elevator when the doors opened to reveal Bucky carrying the bag that he keeps his training things in.

“Hey, doll.” He said, walking closer and dumping his bag on the ground next to one of the armchairs.

“It’s nice to see you, too, grumpy,” Sam answered him, clearly knowing Bucky was talking to you.

Bucky faked a smile for him before sitting in the armchair. “Did you get to speak to Steve?”

“Yeah, he was telling me about the results from all the weird tests they did yesterday, that’s about it.”

“And you’re okay, right?” He looked more worried than usual.

“Yeah, I’m fine, don’t worry about it.”

Bucky still looked worried, though, and continued to look that way for the rest of the nature documentary the three of you ended up watching.

“So, birds, huh?” Bucky smirked when the credits started rolling.

“Yes, birds. I’m sorry that’s a hard concept to grasp.” Sam retorted, standing up from his seat and moving to the kitchen. “I’m gonna leave you two lovebirds to it, though. See you around, [Y/N].” He left through one of the elevators, you weren’t sure which though because you were too busy being confused.

“Lovebirds? Do they know about us or something? I mean I know it’s been a while but I didn’t think you had told them.” You went to turn the television off because you knew the background noise would bother Bucky.

“I haven’t told them, actually. I think they just kind of presumed, and I just haven’t specifically denied anything so I guess they take that as acceptance.” He shrugged his shoulders and went to get a glass of water, silently asking you if you wanted any. You accepted his offer and he came back with the two glasses.

“I’m surprised you haven’t told Steve, to be honest.” You took a sip of your water. “He is your best friend, after all.”

“I wanted to make sure you were okay with me telling anyone first.” Bucky placed his hand on yours which was resting on the arm of the sofa.

“Oh, okay. Yeah, I’m alright with that. We’re getting teased about it anyway,” you laughed and turned to the elevator which had just dinged behind you.

“Did it really take you that long to answer that email?” You joked as Steve exited the elevator and walked swiftly over to the lounge area.

“I had other things to do, not just answer that one email, alright?” He sat down on the other end of the sofa, where Sam was previously.

“Uh-huh, sure thing, Steve.” You returned to drinking your water.

“Damn it!” You heard Steve mumbled under his breath.

“I think you mean ‘darn it,’ Cap.” Both you and Bucky laughed at the comment. “What’s up?”

“My phone’s dead. I forgot to charge it.” He sighed, placing it back in his pocket.

“I’m sure [Y/N] could charge it up with her powers.” Bucky sounded excited at the idea.

“Can you imagine how great that’d be? I’d never have to worry about low battery ever again. I also might blow up his phone, though.” You lifted your hands letting sparks fly between your fingertips.

“I think we should try,” Steve said trying to pull his phone out of his pocket. “I need a new one anyway so if it does explode, well, it’s not a large loss.” He handed you his phone.

“Are you for real? This is going to end in disaster.”

Steve nodded his head at you, though, so you wrapped your hand around the phone, trying to use as little electricity as possible. You felt it surge through you, the electric buzz humming away. You were sure it wasn’t going to work, but you heard the little jingle the phone played when it turned on. You were stunned, Bucky cheered in approval next to you.

“It actually worked? Holy crap, it worked!” Steve said, his eyebrows raised.

You placed the phone in the palm of your hand and held it out for Steve to take back, but as he went to reach for it, the phone sizzled, making a soft banging noise. A fire lit and you dropped the phone on the glass coffee table in front of you, rubbing your hand from the burn.

“It was worth a shot, I guess,” you laughed, grabbing your glass of water to cool down your hand.

“Hey, if you could control it better it might work, who knows!” Steve picked up his phone by the corner, trying to get the fire to go out.

You spent the rest of the afternoon talking about what had happened while you were gone. They were trying to restore the building from the explosion when they captured you, Clint was spending time away with his family which you didn’t actually know he had until now. You knew that Steve was going to be a good friend in the times to come, and you suddenly let it sink in that you were now an Avenger. Now an Avenger with superpowers. But also responsibility, and you wondered how tasking the next few months were going to be.


End file.
